The Forbidden Convention
by ElenaDrakey
Summary: Martha Jones and the DOctor end up in the one place they were never meant to go...


"One trip. One trip, Martha Jones. Where do you want to go?" Martha stared up at the mysterious Doctor, the man who had saved her life only hours before. The man with two hearts, who could travel - supposedly - in time and space, in the wooden box he was leaning against.

The man who had kissed her, and told her it meant nothing.

"Take me somewhere amazing," she breathed with a smile. The Doctor grinned, grabbing her hand and dragging her, giggling, inside the blue box.

"You have got to be kidding me." Martha stared around herself, taking in the vast space crammed into such as small wooden box. "It's-"

Bigger on the inside, the Doctor mouthed with her, nodding, slightly bored. "Right then! Somewhere amazing?" He ran to the centre of the large, hexagonal room, and circled the massive console in the middle at an equal speed, pushing and pulling and twisting and twirling different parts, until finally coming to a stop with his hand resting on a large lever, his other, held out to Martha. She took it tentatively.

"Allons-y!" He pushed the lever down, and immediately both fell over, as the blue box flew through time and space; Martha screaming and the Doctor laughing, until finally, with a whirr and a jolt, the box came to a halt. Martha scrambled to her feet, running to the door, pausing just before opening it.

"Where are we? No, gotta get used to this - when are we?" she asked breathlessly, her fingers inching towards the handle. The Doctor turned back from the screen he had been staring at.

"Take a peek," he smiled, gesturing towards the door. Martha took a deep breath; whatever waited outside that door, she was going to be the only person in the world to have seen it. Slowly, she pushed it open.

"But Doctor... It's just London!" she said, confused. The Doctor stared at her.

"No, no, that can't be right," he muttered, striding past her and flinging to door wide.

"What? No, no, no! Stupid TARDIS! Why can't you take me where you're supposed to?" He yelled, kicking the console and immediately hopping backwards, clutching his foot in pain as he stumbled over the rail with an audible crash.

"Doctor?" Martha called, worried, running over to where he had fallen and peering down. The Doctor grinned up at her, his limbs entangled in various cables and other pieces of junk. He tried to stand, but one of the cords was wrapped around his shoulder and brought him crashing back down to the ground. Martha rolled her eyes, and ran down to help him free himself.

Several minutes later, they were at last standing in front of the doors again - the Doctor considerably scruffier than before - and the Doctor ran outside, leaving Martha standing confused within the TARDIS.

"Come on!" She shook her head, smiling, and took off after him.

"Now, when are we?" the Doctor murmured, waving that funny silvery thing around the large square they were standing in. It wirrrred back at him. "2014, according to my sonic screwdriver!" He spun around to face Martha, who was standing by the TARDIS, holding up what looked like a sonic screwdriver, identical to the Doctor's. "But that's my-" he started, snatching it out of her hands and waving his own all over it. "A replica..." he murmured, dropping it to the ground. "Where did you-" He stopped. "Ah."

Next to Martha was a seemingly endless row of tables, all covered with various pieces from the Doctor's past - a slitheen hand, a cybermask, even a collection of miniaturised TARDISes and Daleks. The Doctor stared at the tables, his eyes narrowed.

"Martha, I think we should leave," he ordered, grabbing her arm and walking away quickly.

"Hey!" she protested, snatching her arm back. "Doctor!" He turned to look at her, his eyes deadly serious.

"Martha, listen to me. There is one place, one event in the entire universe I can never visit. One day of the year, when London isn't safe." A strange rumbling slowly came into existence, growing louder every second. The Doctor looked back over his shoulder in fear. "Run!" he yelled, taking her hand and dragging her away from the impending roar, as crowds of teenaged girls, boys and young adults thundered across the square towards them. The Doctor threw open the TARDIS doors and they flew inside, slamming the wooden panels shut behind them, breathing heavily.

"What was that?" Martha demanded, stepping away from the Doctor. "Tell me!" The Doctor looked over at Martha, and she immediately shank down under his fierce gaze.

"Comic Con."

Martha stared at the Doctor, not quite comprehending his words. "Comic what?" she asked, turning around to face the console - but it wasn't there. "Doctor, what happened to the TARDIS?" she asked quietly. The Doctor turned around.

"Well, it's hiding. It's not here - well, laterally speaking, it was never here," he conceded, staring at the blue painted wooden wall barely a nose-length away.

"But what happened?"

"It's a model," the Doctor said, peering out of the window. "A replica, made by fans for fans. In the future, the human race discovers my name, and they make a TV show about me, called Doctor Who. This is a convention to celebrate it."

"But surely that's... good?" Martha questioned, her hand on the door.

"No! If they ever find out I exist, I would never be left alone! Paparazzi, fans knocking at the TARDIS day and night..." He shuddered uncomfortably. Martha crossed her arms.

"You say you have a time machine, but you can't even fly it to the right place!" she shouted accusingly.

"I do, well, sort of - I borrowed it, stole it actually, 700 years ago." Martha slapped him across the cheek. "Ow!" he complained.

"Doctor, we are going out there right now, and you are going to find the TARDIS!" Martha demanded, yanking the door open and stepping outside into the sea of people. The Doctor groaned, following her out.

"Nice cosplay, mate!" a voice yelled over the noise, and the Doctor nodded in thanks, taking a step back beside Martha to survey the collection of TARDIS replicas - and somewhere, the real TARDIS - before them. All were different sizes, proportions and shades of blue.

"How're you gonnna tell which one's the real one?" Martha asked, concerned. The Doctor was silent. Suddenly, he pulled out the sonic screwdriver again and waved it around, looking at the readings. "That one!" he shouted, pointing to the TARDIS on the end of the row, which a large man was just pinning a large 'SOLD' sign onto.

"No no no, that's my TARDIS!" the Doctor whined, stomping his foot childishly. He ran over to the fat man who had just sold it.

"Excuse me, but I put my TARDIS over here by mistake - I failed my last eye test, I thought it was the car park. Is there any chance you could, you know - un-sell it?" The man stared at the Doctor like he was crazy.

"Sorry mate, not possible. Once it's been sold, it's been sold. You could always try talking to the owner, though." He pointed out a tall, thin teenager, dressed in exactly the same pinstriped suit, red converse and brown trench coat the real Doctor was wearing. Martha ran over to him.

"So that's him, yeah?" she asked, pointing at the teenager. The Doctor nodded, and together they strode over to him. "Excuse me, but I think you just bought my boyfriend's TARDIS," Martha stated, slapping away the Doctor's attempts to protest. "Give it back, it belongs to him." The teenager turned around, his smile vanishing.

"Are you joking?" he half-whispered, his face ridden with horror. "It's the best replica I've ever seen! I'm not about to just give it back because some pretty girl asked me to!" Martha slapped him.

"Oi! That's my TARDIS!" she yelled back, shoving him backwards into the crowd.

"Martha, get in the TARDIS!" the Doctor yelled, and Martha nodded, spriting towards the wooden doors. She slammed into it and grabbed the handles, ready to fling open -

"Oh no you don't!" the teenager yelled, chasing after her.

"Doctor, it's locked!" she shouted frantically.

"Take the key!" he yelled, throwing something small and silver on a long chain towards her. As if in slow motion, Martha reached out her fingers to receive the key, planting in the sunlight like a myriad of diamonds... But the teenager jumped into the air and caught it with a triumphant grin.

"Get back here!" Martha screamed, hurtling towards the teenager, who, obviously scared, sprinted in the opposite direction, his stupid replica trench coat flapping out behind him.

Crowds parted as the pair hurtled around the square, cheering wildly for both the Doctor the teenager was dressed as and Martha. Stupid Doctor, bringing us here! she thought angrily, as her feet hit the ground again and again.

Together, the teenager and her sprinted behind the tables containing the Doctor's life when the youth dropped to the floor and scrambled under the tables. Martha lept over them herself, scattering the memorabilia and setting off multiple Daleks saying "Exterminate!" much to the crowd's delight. Suddenly, a stroke of luck - the teenager crashed to the pavement, the TARDIS key flying out of his hand. Martha snatched it away from his grasping fingers.

"I'll take that!" she said, satisfied as she made her way through the crowds to where the Doctor stood, shell-shocked. "Shall we?" Martha grinned, offering her arm to him. A moment later, he recovered and grinned, taking her arm and walking with her to the TARDIS doors, into which Martha inserted the key, slightly sweaty from the teenager's hands. It turned with a click and the doors opened, the Doctor and Martha disappearing inside. A few seconds and the crowds watched with batted breath, until the familiar vworp was heard, and the TARDIS faded away. Gasps shot through the crowd, who clapped and cheered as the Doctor and Martha were whirled away.

On board, Martha and the Doctor high-fived.

"Well I can tell you one thing, Doctor," Martha said with a grin, "that was incredible!" The Doctor laughed, pulling open the TARDIS doors. Martha ran outside, her face falling.

"But this is my house!" she said, staring up at the Doctor in confusion. He nodded, stepping out to join her.

"I promised you one trip, Martha Jones," he told her, an edge of sadness to his voice. "Me, I'm better off alone." Martha felt tears prick her eyes.

"I don't believe that," she cried in desperation. "You need someone with you, to help you. No one should ever have to travel alone. And you never know," she grinned, "you might need me! Out there, having adventures in the stars..."

The Dotor shook his head, turning back to the TARDIS.

"Goodbye, Martha," he said with a sad smile. "It really was a pleasure to have you on board!" And with that, he shut the doors, and vworped away. Martha sat down on her bed, her head in her hands. You can't just do that to someone; show them the world and then take it away! she thought angrily, staring up at the ceiling.

Minutes passed. Finally, Martha stood up and turned towards the door, running a hand through her disheveled hair. A breeze lifted her top, and with a sigh, she turned back to close the window.

Vworp, vworp, vworp.

"So Martha; how'd you feel about meeting Shakespeare?" The Doctor winked, his head stuck out of the TARDIS doors. Martha broke into an elated grin.

"You rascal, you!" she laughed, allowing herself to be pulled inside the TARDIS once more; off to travel through time and space with the Doctor - the alien man with two hearts, who had stolen a blue box that was also a time machine.

_Oh, Doctor_, she smiled.


End file.
